The Morning After
by lemondrop-rhapsody
Summary: Post OneWayTicket In which Locke questions the significance of the night on Mother's Hill, a badlynamed dog spooks a horse, and there IS NO riceball.


Okay, though this is a one-shot, the events do tie in with "One Way Ticket" and this is meant to be read directly afterward.   
Rating: PG or PG-13, depending on what exactly you think Kai means...   
Warnings: as always, farmboyXboy, bad puppies, disturbed squirrels and a rather acrobatic raw egg.   
Disclaimer: Je ne possede pas.

The Morning After

Locke woke to a wet tongue running over his cheek, down his jawline, up his nose...

"Ack! Pengy! Gerroff!" The farmer's arms flailed madly as he sat up out of bed. He swore the dog had had it out for him ever since he'd named the (then) adorable puppy after a childhood toy of his... But it was six a.m. anyway, so he jumped out of bed for his customary riceball.

Except...

There _was_ no riceball.

Now that made no sense whatsoever. He _always _had riceballs. How was he to start his day without the breakfast of farm champions ™?

He grabbed the yellow dog and brought him outside, scratching his baseball cap in confusion as he looked out on the already sunny summer morning. He supposed he could always _go somewhere_ for breakfast, but then he'd have to start his day late and...

He needed a kitchen. That was what it boiled down to.

After a hastily thrown together meal of fresh milk and a raw egg (hey, it worked for bodybuilders!) he set about the care and feeding of his chickens and cow, and the ever-present task of watering his crops. Pengy had run off somewhere, probably to spook the horse, as was his habit when the equine was let out of the stable.

By ten he was finished with his everyday chores, which left him with spare time. He set about chopping wood in the area near the hot spring, careful to keep his mind off of the night before.

Off. Yes, thinking about things like chopping wood and obtaining money for that elusive kitchen.

Not remembering the feel of Kai's lips on his own, the intense stare of the Seaside Lodge owner focused on him, only him, and the giddy feeling that was like being made of dandelion fluff and not flesh and bone.

Because well, there was work to be done.

He gave up when he noticed the particular stump he'd been chopping was in ruins and a particularly nervous squirrel seemed to be eyeing him fearfully.

He found himself backing away from the disturbed rodent and pinching himself to dispel the surreal feel of the morning.

What was wrong with him? He'd never had trouble getting things done before. Of course he always looked forward to visiting Kai, even before they'd... well, what _had_ they done, anyhow? Kissed a bit, certainly, which was enough to apparently skew half of his day.

As he thought, he moved, and he was only mildly surprised to find his feet had brought him to Mineral Beach. Kai paced before the Seaside Lodge, looking contemplative, which was a new look for Kai. When he spotted Locke, he grinned.

"Hey, what's up?"

Locke found his confusion and annoyance at himself replaced by a sort of happy nervousness, which made no more sense than his previous distraction but was welcomed nonetheless.

"Oh, not much, I guess..."

"Locke, about last night..."

Locke had known such a conversation was inevitable after a night like the one they'd had, but knowledge of a matter and experience are two different things, and that raw egg was doing a sort of flip-flop in his stomach at Kai's hesitant tone.

Here it came, the apology for such a mistake and an insincere half-promise to be friends. It was too strange, two males kissing or in a relationship and it was the fault of the fireworks and the romantic atmosphere and the heat of the summer night and it had just happened but it couldn't lead to anything because of course Kai would be leaving in a few days and he was only around during the summer anyway and had he mentioned a girlfriend overseas because he probably did have one...

"There really aren't many other places to date in this village... maybe we should stay in next time. Your place, of course."

Locke stared at the swarthy boy in disbelief.

"Next...time?"

Kai raised an eyebrow, looking faintly worried. "You know, next time. As in, you, me, and a repeat performance of last night _minus_ you nearly throttling Rick? As a matter of fact, minus Rick completely."

Locke blushed at the prospect, and found himself grinningly replying, "We can leave Miss Popuri at home as well, right?"

Kai pressed against Locke with a smirk. "I think if she were around to witness what I have planned for you, her face would match her hair."

And as Locke laughingly made plans for the evening he knew not everything was worked out so easily, that they both had a long way to go and that neither knew exactly _what_ direction this capricious relationship was going, but...somehow, it didn't seem like that was a bad thing.

And the egg in his stomach decided to behave, too.


End file.
